Triangle ripping sled

Since making my first two cutting boards, I’ve had a pattern for the next one, with triangles, bouncing around in my head.First however, I had to figure out how to rip the stock into accurate, repeatable triangles.

David Reed Smith gives very detailed instructions and provides easy to follow diagrams. However, he has a right tilt saw and mine is left, so I had to make the necessary changes.

The base is made of 3/4” plywood on two maple runners. The rest of the parts are birch and maple, leftover from my bench build.

The fence to the left of the blade is adjustable. For triangles, the edge facing the blade is an upside down 45 degree angle. For diamonds, I would flip the fence over, to have the 90 degree side facing the blade.

The hold down adjusts to the thickness of the stock being ripped by sliding on a bolt in the rear of the sled. The plans call for a bushing turned on the lathe, but the star knob seems to work just fine.

Photo 4 – shows stock in place, ready to be ripped.

Photo 5 shows my first attempts. The scraps I used were not of identical thicknesses, so the triangles aren’t exactly the same.